Bill Gates Writes $7 Million Check for Public Education

Let's hope that the organizations really use the money the right way. I am still not sure how we got off track as a country as it relates to education. We are on the brink on losing an entire generation, I hope this gets us started in the right direction.

A 7.6 million dollar grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help attract top-notch professionals to careers in public education leadership positions.

The money went to Education Pioneers, a nonprofit that works with organizations including Chicago Public Schools, KIPP DC, Los Angeles Unified School District and the United States Department of Education.

The organization operates fellowship programs designed to provide experience in leading an education organization to professionals at critical career junctures. The idea is for these high-achievers to use their unique skills and prior work experience on projects like as using student-level data to pinpoint areas for teacher intervention, researching best practices to improve curriculum and instruction, and creating strategic plans for teachers.

"Schools and educational organizations that have already benefited from Education Pioneers placements have seen improvements trickle down to the very granular level of improving student achievement," said Don Shalvey of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The work Education Pioneers does -- attracting and keeping top talent in important positions outside the classroom -- has already make a huge difference for school districts and public charter schools that don't have the budget or time do undertake it themselves. We're with the Gates Foundation: building on that kind of success is a smart investment.

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